Consumers and SMEs in the Digital Single Market

Scientific manager: Federico Ferretti

Unibo structure involved: Department of Sociology and Business Law - SDE
Unibo Team: Riccardo Rivani
Project Web page: https://site.unibo.it/digi-consme/en
Erasmus+ Action type: Jean Monnet Centres of Excellence
Project reference: 610728-EPP-1-2019-1-IT-EPPJMO-CoE
Start Date: 1 September 2019
End Date: 31 August 2022
Budget: Total € 100,000, UNIBO € 100,000
Coordinator: ALMA MATER STUDIORUM UNIVERSITÀ DI BOLOGNA (IT)
Partners: NA

Summary:

The digital revolution and technologies are transforming the economy and social relations, posing unprecedented regulatory challenges, and undermining existing legal frameworks and principles. They present opportunities and risks for both SMEs and consumers. The EU Digital Single Market attempts to remove regulatory barriers and move from national markets to a single EU one. Regulation plays a pivotal role in the creation of a EU single market fit for a sustainable digital economy, ensuring an optimal economic and social balance. How are SMEs and consumers affected? What are the challenges and risks ahead? What regulatory environment should provide for a right balance between economic exploitation and the protection of rights? How should the law of innovation look like and what is the role of the EU? The establishment of a CoE aims at giving support, visibility and enhanced impact to several academic activities in this critical area of EU integration. SMEs and consumers will be placed at the centre of the digital ecosystem. The ambitious goal of the CoE is to establish itself as an influential voice in the debate and serve as a catalyst for excellent international research on this area of EU studies. The project aims at promoting collaborative interdisciplinary research; publishing open access in international peer-reviewed journals, thus contributing to the policy debate and a deeper understanding of the socio-economic and legal principles of European integration for SMEs and consumers in the digital sphere; producing didactic material and delivering academic teaching and training activities; enhancing understanding, exploitation, and strategies surrounding the digital sphere and its regulation among SMEs, professionals, and the civil society; engaging with other academics internationally on research, teaching, and dissemination; informing policy-making and the judiciary.